Athletics
You’re skilled at climbing, swimming, jumping, and performing other feats of athleticism. Use Climb You can use Athletics to climb up a vertical surface, which is treated like difficult terrain, costing multiple Moves to traverse. The number of Moves that it takes to climb an obstacle is based on its size, and how well you succeed on your Athletics check: The DC for the check depends on the quality of the obstacle: Fighting While Climbing Since you can’t easily move to avoid an attack, you lose your Defense ranks while climbing. Any time you take damage while climbing, make an immediate Athletics check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall and sustain the appropriate falling damage. Jumping You can hop over obstacles or across gaps. A DC 20 Athletics check allows a character to make 1 Move within a single Zone while ignoring any increased cost in Moves that difficult terrain might impose. A jumping character can vault over obstacles of Small size or smaller without penalty. This can be used to move Adjacent to an ally or landmark in the Zone, or Engage an enemy in the Zone. Especially large gaps or bigger obstacles require a higher DC. The size of an obstacle can either be measured either in height or length, but it is easier to perform a Long Jump than it is a High Jump. Characters can also use Athletics to jump up and reach a higher height. A DC 15 Athletics check allows a character to reach just about anything inside their Zone vertically (though to actually find a sufficient handhold to pull themselves up increases the DC to 20, and costs 2 Moves instead of 1). Failure on the Athletics check means the character is unable to clear the obstacle, and must traverse it normally (often meaning an increased expenditure in Moves to clear difficult terrain, or having to find another way over a gap). Swimming A successful Athletics check allows you to swim. Moving in water is more difficult than moving on land, so it takes twice as many moves to move within water by default (see the table below for details). If the check fails by 5 or more, you go underwater. If you are underwater you must hold your breath to avoid drowning. The DC for the Athletics check depends on the condition of the water. Each hour you swim, make an Endurance check (DC 20) for extended activity. Rescuing Rescuing another character who can’t swim (for whatever reason) is made with 2 extra penalties. Action Athletics checks are made as part of a Move Action, and the number of moves that must be spent is based on how well (or poorly) a character rolls. Special At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of climbing attempts might require tools like ropes, pitons, harness, and so forth. Attempting such a climb without tools incurs 2 penalties. Challenges The following Challenges are appropriate for Athletics checks: * Fighting Climb: By accepting 2 penalties to climb, you can maintain your Defense ranks to while climbing. * Secured Climb: If you take 2 peanlties to your climb, you do not have to make an Athletics check to maintain your position if you take damage. You climb in such a way as to brace yourself for any attacks. Category:Rulebook Category:Characters Category:Skills Category:Strength